Karl Mayman was a highly respected radiation protection specialist and Senior Consultant Health Physicist with more than 35 years of experience in the radiation protection industry. His career began in 1986 with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC), later known as ANSTO, where he joined as a Nuclear Health Physics Surveyor.
Following extensive training across ANSTO’s operational areas, Karl gained hands-on experience in reactor operations, waste management, medical and industrial isotope production, cyclotron facilities, instrument calibration, and emergency response. During his career, he worked extensively in both operational and consultancy roles, developing specialised radiation protection techniques and leading complex projects across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Karl was a founding member of ANSTO’s commercial consultancy group and played a key role in delivering radiation protection services to industries including the MARTAG pre-clean up site investigations at Maralinga, mining, defence, hospitals, universities, Australian Customs, and other government agencies. His expertise spans radioactive source identification, inventory and characterisation, source security, remediation and site investigations, radioactive waste management, and the recovery, removal, transport, and disposal of high-activity radioactive sources.
Internationally, Karl contributed to ANSTO’s Regional Security of Radioactive Sources Project, working with international partners to locate, secure and safely manage orphan radioactive sources throughout the Asia-Pacific region. This work included projects in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Fiji and Vietnam. In recognition of his expertise in transporting high activity sources under special arrangement, he attended specialised training at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and became accredited as an IAEA lecturer in Security During Transport of radioactive materials.
Throughout his career, Karl was a member of ANSTO’s first-response team for radiological incidents and participated in Nuclear Powered Warship monitoring and international emergency response exercises, including challenging training exercises at Chornobyl. He also held specialist accreditations in radiation safety for mining and radioactive ore processing, as well as regulatory compliance assessments for X-ray and analytical equipment.
In the latter part of his career, Karl led major long-term remediation and radioactive waste management projects for Defence, universities and hospitals. One of his most significant projects involved the identification and remediation of a radium contaminated building at the University of Melbourne. Originally scoped as a six-week investigation, the project evolved into a three-year piecemeal demolition, excavation, and soil remediation program, requiring the development of innovative methodologies accepted by regulators for the activity classification of drummed contaminated soil.
Karl retired from ANSTO in 2020, leaving behind an exceptional legacy of leadership, technical expertise and contributions to radiation protection, source security and environmental remediation both in Australia and internationally.
